People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) President and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has called on the Commonwealth to conduct an independent audit of Uganda’s recent elections, rejecting the declared results and alleging widespread irregularities.
Speaking on NBS Morning Breeze, Lukwago said the electoral process was marred by fraud and cannot be credibly reviewed by local institutions.
“We are demanding that this fraud that was conducted on an industrial scale must be audited and investigated under the auspices of international agencies, not locally here, because you can’t audit yourself,” he said.
Lukwago argued that a credible review must be handled by neutral international bodies such as the Commonwealth or other recognized global institutions.
According to the PFF leader, reports from across the country indicate serious irregularities at polling stations and tally centres. He claimed results announced at polling stations often differed from those later declared at tally centres.
“You can imagine people were at a polling station, they announced results there, then all of a sudden you go to the tally centre and find a totally different story,” Lukwago said.
He alleged that in some Kampala polling stations, candidates who reportedly received minimal or no votes were later declared winners.
“In broad daylight, they are saying someone got 11, yet at most polling stations they would get one, two, three votes or nothing and they are declared winners across the board,” he said.
Lukwago further accused some presiding officers of issuing multiple ballot papers to individual voters.
“I received reports of presiding officers giving out three or four ballot papers to individuals,” he claimed.
He also said voting did not take place as expected in certain polling stations, including Ham Stadium and Wandegeya.
“In many of those polling stations, there was no polling. There was nothing,” he said.
The PFF leader added that election observers were restricted and not given full access to monitor the process across the country.
“The observers themselves were not even given the latitude to execute their duty,” he said.
Lukwago warned that the aftermath of the elections has left many Ugandans frustrated and disillusioned.
“The public despondence is at a higher level. It would appear now the public has properly lost confidence in the electoral process,” he said.
He argued that constitutional mechanisms for peaceful political transition appear ineffective under the current circumstances.
“All the doors to peaceful transition using the mechanisms provided under the law seem to be closed,” he said.
While the option to file election petitions in court remains, Lukwago stressed that restoring public trust requires an independent international audit.
“What should be at the centre of our conversation is the crisis in the country and the future of this nation,” he said.
Electoral authorities had not responded to his claims by press time.
